Is Aerial Hoop hard? Are you new to lyra hoop? Or maybe thinking of getting an lyra hoop at home? It may interest you to follow my aerial hoop beginner journey and my weekly progressions and experience. I will share my wins, struggles and observations weekly.

Should I try Aerial Hoop?

Absolutely! We all want to get fit and healthy. I don’t know about you but boring workouts never worked for me. With a fun sport like Aerial Hoop or Aerial Lyra, it is easy to stay consistent especially when you start seeing results. Something about the aerial hoop makes me feel like I’m experiencing childhood all over again, I feel like I’m playing but getting a good workout out of it every-time.

What is Aerial Hoop? To put it simply, aerial hoop is a suspended aluminum or steel ring used for aerial arts.

If you’ve never tried Lyra before, find an Aerial Hoop studio near you and try an aerial hoop class with a trained instructor. Then you can look into getting an aerial hoop for your own home. I got my hoop set up from polefitnessdancing.com. My best advise? Always buy your equipment from a reliable aerial supplier and get it right the first time.

I chose to buy my  aerial X Pole equipment from Polefitnessdancing.com because of their super responsive customer service. They were really helpful with the product information and even gave advise on my home set up and made my purchasing process a breeze.

Is Aerial Hoop Hard?

The short answer would be, NO. I always consider myself as someone who takes longer than average to learn new things. And I have to admit so far aerial hoop has been rather an easier journey than I expected. Sure, you will walk away from class with pain on your hands, bruises on your knee pit, but I can assure you it is worth it and is 100% fun!

Just make sure that your focus is on consistency and not about nailing tricks right away. Also look for an instructor who is skilled in teaching and cares to understand your specific fitness background and able to give you beginner progressions for YOUR level. If you are a self learner, you can learn from online classes and YouTube videos. I would only recommend self learning as a complete beginner if you already have a solid fitness background, otherwise always start with in-studio classes so you can learn all the safety measures you need to take before making the decision to self learn and practice at home.

Can One With Fear of Height Do Hoop Dancing?

My first impression of aerial hoop was how scary it was to be suspended in the air. What if I fall? What if I lose my grip when I sweat and get nervous?

This worry immediately went away when I noticed the aerial hoop height is adjustable to your preference! Dance studios may rig their lyra set up higher because they want to teach beginners how to mount the pole and balance on it (dont worry, there will be big crash mats below the hoop!). I don’t see this being done in studios, but I think absolute beginners (especially those with a fear of height like me) should be given a chance to familiarise with the hoop rigged really low to start with.

When I got my home aerial hoop set up, I rigged it low like in the picture here. And it remained at this height for weeks! Once you are comfortable, raise the hoop by a couple more feet. And add a crash mat to practice the same moves. While my hoop was set low, I used the opportunity to practice beginner moves. Such as, Man in the Moon, and pretty hoop poses without any fear of falling. Another benefit of rigging the hoop this low. You can swing on it like a playground swing if you have the space. My 6 year old daughter absolutely loves our home lyra swing and goes on it everyday.

Does Pole Dance Background Help With Aerial Hoop?

I have been pole dancing for a few years. Although I’m not an advanced pole dancer. And have not had the luxury of time to spend more time on pole fitness. I have consistently kept to it for years. My pole dancing background most definitely helped me in my hoop journey. As I am already comfortable with inverts, leg hooks and upper body engagement. So if you are already pole dancing, or come from another fitness or dance background, learning aerial hoop will be much easier for you.

Don’t be discouraged however, if you are a complete beginner to fitness. I have seen people with no fitness background as well as people of all sizes enjoy the aerial hoop. With the right conditioning exercises and a consistent hoop practice, you will surely see advancement. And most likely find yourself hooked on aerial hoop and general fitness 🙂

What to Expect in My Weekly Hoop Blog

My weekly blog series will cover all the juicy stories of my journey as novice hoop dancer. I’ll share with you my experience, tips and beginner tricks. And also things I learnt along the way. In each blog release, I will break down my observations and stories into 3 categories;

Beginner Hoop Tricks of the Week: I’m excited to cover all the beginner hoop tricks and poses that I learnt along my beginner journey. And you are most welcome to try out the moves with the tips I share! Dont be shy to leave comments and questions on the blog .

Lesson Learnt: We improve when we learn from our mistakes. I will cover the mistakes I made in my learning process. And share the things I realised I was doing wrong. This may perhaps help you to avoid making the same mistakes in your journey.

Game Changer Tips: These are the things that I highly encourage you to do or take into consideration as I notice how helpful it was to me once I apply them to my hoop journey.